Service is included in French restaurant prices, which makes tipping optional in a way it is not in the United States. Small change for good service is normal; a percentage is not expected, and nobody will chase you for one.
Tipping is genuinely optional here — welcome, but not assumed. Service is legally included in all prices (service compris). Extra is a bonus.
Service charge: All restaurant prices include 15% service by law. Check the bill before adding anything, since paying twice for service is the most common visitor mistake.
Amounts are quoted in EUR. These are customs rather than rules — they vary by city, by venue and by how the place is used to being paid, and no authority publishes them.
| Situation | Typical expectation |
|---|---|
| Restaurants | 5-10% (optional) — Round up or leave a few euros for good service. |
| Cafés | Round up — Leave small change. €0.50-1 is generous. |
| Taxis | Round up — Round to nearest €1. |
| Hotels | €1-2 — For porters/housekeeping. Not obligatory. |
French menu prices include service by law. That is not a service charge added at the end — it is already in the number next to the dish, which is why French bills have no separate service line and why a percentage on top is not the expectation.
The practical result is that a visitor applying North American habits will roughly double what a local would leave. Small change after a coffee, a couple of euros after a good dinner, and nothing at all after a quick lunch are all entirely normal.
Tipping customs are not published rules, and they move. They differ between a city and a small town, between a tourist district and a neighbourhood restaurant, and between a place that takes cards and one that does not.
In France the bill itself is the best guide: read it before you add anything, because a service charge may already be there.
Where you can, watch what people around you do. It is a better signal than any guide, including this one.
If France is one stop on a longer European route, the tipping habit does not travel with you — Spain and Portugal do not include service the way France does.
Optionally. Service is already included in the price, so anything you leave is a gesture rather than an expectation. Rounding up or leaving a couple of euros after a good meal is normal.
That service is included in the prices on the menu. It is the reason French bills do not carry a separate service line the way American ones do, and the reason a percentage tip is not expected on top.
Nothing is required. Leaving small change, or a few euros for a longer meal with good service, is the common practice among locals.
Rounding up to the nearest euro is usual and sufficient. A percentage is not expected.
No, and that is worth knowing before a multi-country trip. Service is included by default in France and Italy but often not in Spain or Portugal, so the same habit does not travel across the border.